Blood and Jazz

Notes from the Dvirhim Revolution

Reiks

The Reiks were a dynasty of dwarvish leaders of the Gazad Empire, which was founded from the multitude of nomadic Gazad dwarf tribes by the great dwarf warlord Chenglei Reik in 3206 and then expanded to its full extent by one of Chenglei’s many grandsons Rungai Reik in 3304, at which point it briefly became the largest empire by area in Ërdin‘s history. The Reiks were the most feared warriors of their time, and remained so until the collapse of the Gazad Empire shortly after Rungai’s death, at which point they were quickly surpassed by their own former vassal state of Dvirhim.

Reik was not a surname, but a title designating authority; the Gazad dwarves did not make widespread use of family names until many centuries later. Although countless unrelated Gazad leaders have adopted the title of Reik over the course of history, in common scholarly parlance the term refers by default to Chenglei and his relatives unless otherwise specified.